Jailed: Father turned 'vigilante' in savage attack on man whose sons 'bullied' his teenage boy

Christopher Probert and another man burst through the unlocked front door into the Rowley Regis home of the victim after 10pm when he was in bed but was woken by the foul mouthed yells of the 43-year-old, a judge heard.

The victim came down the stairs and, as he neared the bottom, was grabbed by the upper arms and head butted by the intruder who “saw red” when the two came face to face on April 6, Wolverhampton Crown Court was told.

The stunned victim’s terrified partner and seven-year-old granddaughter watched in horror as Probert rained down punches, sending him crashing into a glass cabinet and onto the floor.

The attacker hesitated so the other man, who had urged Probert to “cave his head in,” took over, repeatedly punching and kicking the face and body of the helpless victim as his partner desperately tried to shield him from the blows while contacting the police, said Mr Antonie Muller, prosecuting, who continued: “They had obviously come to beat him up and he was covered in blood when they finished.”

Probert claimed not to know the other man involved in the violence, alleging he had flagged the person down for a lift after his son phoned to say one he had been chased with a scaffolding pole.

Probert was driven to the scene, discovered the teenager had made his own way home and headed for the address of his work colleague who was employed by the same waste metals firm, the court was told.

The victim was taken to hospital with a “plethora” of injuries, ranging from two broken ribs through loosened teeth to bad bruising and grazes, it was said.

Mr Adam Wieczerzak, defending, explained that Probert’s boy had been assaulted by one of the victim’s sons two years earlier and was alarmed by the phone call but insisted he went to the address to “remonstrate, not attack” until “seeing red” when he got there.

The lawyer maintained the defendant was ashamed of his actions but the depression he suffered from for years had been accentuated by the break down of his marriage.

Probert from Higham’s Close, Rowley Regis, admitted assault.

He was jailed and banned from entering the road where the victim lived for 10 years by Judge Rhona Campbell who said: “This sustained attack was absolutely appalling. You translated a perceived sleight on your child into a vigilante exercise that left the injured party with a plethora of injuries.”